Disposable earplugs, which each have a length of about one inch and a diameter of about 0.5 inch, can be conveniently packaged in cardboard boxes that each hold several hundred, for shipment to a factory. At the factory, the contents of a box can be emptied into a dispenser which dispenses one or two earplugs at a time. The contents of prior art boxes are commonly removed by opening the top of a box and removing the contents by grabbing perhaps a couple of dozen earplugs at a time. Another method is to open the top of the box and tip the box to pour out the contents. Both of these methods can lead to loss of some earplugs. A worker who grabs a bunch at a time from a box may have dirty hands, so he may soil some earplugs and workers may not wish to use them, or he may drop some earplugs on the floor where they are dirtied and become nonuseable. Pouring of the earplugs can also lead to many earplugs spilling onto the ground. A box that could be readily emptied into a dispenser or other receiver, without requiring direct contact with human hands, and without substantial danger of spillage, would be useful in the emptying of boxes of earplugs, as well as other articles of comparable size. Comparable size relates to articles that are not so small (e.g. less than about one sixteenth inch minimum dimensions) so they can fall out of thin slits in a box, but which are small enough so that a multiplicity (e.g. at least seven) articles can be contained in a single box.